It is estimated that childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remits by adulthood in approximately 50% of cases; however, this conclusion is typically based on single endpoints, ...failing to consider longitudinal patterns of ADHD expression. The authors investigated the extent to which children with ADHD experience recovery and variable patterns of remission by adulthood.
Children with ADHD (N=558) in the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD (MTA) underwent eight assessments over follow-ups ranging from 2 years (mean age, 10.44 years) to 16 years (mean age, 25.12 years) after baseline. The authors identified participants with fully remitted, partially remitted, and persistent ADHD at each time point on the basis of parent, teacher, and self-reports of ADHD symptoms and impairment, treatment utilization, and substance use and mental disorders. Longitudinal patterns of remission and persistence were identified that considered context and timing.
Approximately 30% of children with ADHD experienced full remission at some point during the follow-up period; however, a majority of them (60%) experienced recurrence of ADHD after the initial period of remission. Only 9.1% of the sample demonstrated recovery (sustained remission) by study endpoint, and only 10.8% demonstrated stable ADHD persistence across study time points. Most participants with ADHD (63.8%) had fluctuating periods of remission and recurrence over time.
The MTA findings challenge the notion that approximately 50% of children with ADHD outgrow the disorder by adulthood. Most cases demonstrated fluctuating symptoms between childhood and young adulthood. Although intermittent periods of remission can be expected in most cases, 90% of children with ADHD in MTA continued to experience residual symptoms into young adulthood.
To describe adult outcome of people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosed in childhood and its several key predictors via a review of 7 North American controlled prospective ...follow-up studies: Montreal, New York, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Berkeley, and 7-site Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD (MTA).
All studies were prospective and followed children with a diagnosis of ADHD and an age- and gender-matched control group at regular intervals from childhood (6-12 years of age) through adolescence into adulthood (20-40 years of age), evaluating symptom and syndrome persistence, functional outcomes, and predictors of these outcomes.
The rates of ADHD syndrome persistence ranged from 5.7% to 77%, likely owing to varying diagnostic criteria and the source of information (self-report vs informant report) across the studies. However, all studies observed high rates of symptomatic persistence ranging from 60% to 86%. The 7 studies were largely consistent in finding that relative to control groups, research participants with childhood-diagnosed ADHD had significant impairments in the areas of educational functioning, occupational functioning, mental health, and physical health as well as higher rates of substance misuse, antisocial behavior, and unsafe driving. The most consistently observed predictors of functional outcomes included ADHD persistence and comorbidity, especially with disruptive behavior disorders.
Childhood ADHD has high rates of symptomatic persistence, which is associated with negative functional outcomes. Characteristics that predict these negative outcomes, such as comorbid disruptive behavior disorders, may be important targets for intervention.
Objective: To determine long-term effects on substance use and substance use disorder (SUD), up to 8 years after childhood enrollment, of the randomly assigned 14-month treatments in the multisite ...Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA; n = 436); to test whether medication at follow-up, cumulative psychostimulant treatment over time, or both relate to substance use/SUD; and to compare substance use/SUD in the ADHD sample to the non-ADHD childhood classmate comparison group (n = 261). Method: Mixed-effects regression models with planned contrasts were used for all tests except the important cumulative stimulant treatment question, for which propensity score matching analysis was used. Results: The originally randomized treatment groups did not differ significantly on substance use/SUD by the 8-year follow-up or earlier (mean age = 17 years). Neither medication at follow-up (mostly stimulants) nor cumulative stimulant treatment was associated with adolescent substance use/SUD. Substance use at all time points, including use of two or more substances and SUD, were each greater in the ADHD than in the non-ADHD samples, regardless of sex. Conclusions: Medication for ADHD did not protect from, or contribute to, visible risk of substance use or SUD by adolescence, whether analyzed as randomized treatment assignment in childhood, as medication at follow-up, or as cumulative stimulant treatment over an 8-year follow-up from childhood. These results suggest the need to identify alternative or adjunctive adolescent-focused approaches to substance abuse prevention and treatment for boys and girls with ADHD, especially given their increased risk for use and abuse of multiple substances that is not improved with stimulant medication. Clinical trial registration information--Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (MTA); http://clinical trials.gov/; NCT00000388. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)
Adolescents and young adults without childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often present to clinics seeking stimulant medication for late-onset ADHD symptoms. Recent birth-cohort ...studies support the notion of late-onset ADHD, but these investigations are limited by relying on screening instruments to assess ADHD, not considering alternative causes of symptoms, or failing to obtain complete psychiatric histories. The authors address these limitations by examining psychiatric assessments administered longitudinally to the local normative comparison group of the Multimodal Treatment Study of ADHD.
Individuals without childhood ADHD (N=239) were administered eight assessments from comparison baseline (mean age=9.89 years) to young adulthood (mean age=24.40 years). Diagnostic procedures utilized parent, teacher, and self-reports of ADHD symptoms, impairment, substance use, and other mental disorders, with consideration of symptom context and timing.
Approximately 95% of individuals who initially screened positive on symptom checklists were excluded from late-onset ADHD diagnosis. Among individuals with impairing late-onset ADHD symptoms, the most common reason for diagnostic exclusion was symptoms or impairment occurring exclusively in the context of heavy substance use. Most late-onset cases displayed onset in adolescence and an adolescence-limited presentation. There was no evidence for adult-onset ADHD independent of a complex psychiatric history.
Individuals seeking treatment for late-onset ADHD may be valid cases; however, more commonly, symptoms represent nonimpairing cognitive fluctuations, a comorbid disorder, or the cognitive effects of substance use. False positive late-onset ADHD cases are common without careful assessment. Clinicians should carefully assess impairment, psychiatric history, and substance use before treating potential late-onset cases.
Objective: Characterize the early trajectories of financial functioning in adults with history of childhood ADHD and use these trajectories to project earnings and savings over the lifetime. Method: ...Data were drawn from a prospective case-control study (PALS) following participants with a rigorous diagnosis of ADHD during childhood (N = 364) and demographically matched controls (N = 240) for nearly 20 years. Participants and their parents reported on an array of financial outcomes when participants were 25 and 30 years old. Results: At age 30, adults with a history of ADHD exhibited substantially worse outcomes than controls on most financial indicators, even when they and their parents no longer endorsed any DSM symptoms of ADHD. Between ages 25 and 30, probands had exhibited considerably slower growth than controls in positive financial indicators (e.g., monthly income) and substantially less reduction than controls in indicators of financial dependence (e.g., living with parents), indicating worsening or sustained deficits on nearly all measures. When earnings trajectories from age 25 to age 30 were extrapolated using matched census data, male probands were projected to earn $1.27 million less than controls over their working lifetime, reaching retirement with up to 75% lower net worth. Conclusion: The financial deficit of adults with history of childhood ADHD grows across early adulthood. Projections based on early financial trajectories suggest very large cumulative differences in earnings and savings. With or without persistence of the DSM symptoms, the adult sequela of childhood ADHD can be conceptualized as a chronic condition often requiring considerable support from others during adulthood.
What is the public health significance of this article?
This study underscores the need for clinical interventions that can improve the financial outcomes of children with ADHD in adulthood. Left unaddressed, ADHD-related deficits in financial functioning incur substantial burden to the afflicted, their families, and social welfare programs.
Background
Inconsistent findings exist regarding long‐term substance use (SU) risk for children diagnosed with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The observational follow‐up of the ...Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) provides an opportunity to assess long‐term outcomes in a large, diverse sample.
Methods
Five hundred forty‐seven children, mean age 8.5, diagnosed with DSM‐IV combined‐type ADHD and 258 classmates without ADHD (local normative comparison group; LNCG) completed the Substance Use Questionnaire up to eight times from mean age 10 to mean age 25.
Results
In adulthood, weekly marijuana use (32.8% ADHD vs. 21.3% LNCG) and daily cigarette smoking (35.9% vs. 17.5%) were more prevalent in the ADHD group than the LNCG. The cumulative record also revealed more early substance users in adolescence for ADHD (57.9%) than LNCG (41.9%), including younger first use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and illicit drugs. Alcohol and nonmarijuana illicit drug use escalated slightly faster in the ADHD group in early adolescence. Early SU predicted quicker SU escalation and more SU in adulthood for both groups.
Conclusions
Frequent SU for young adults with childhood ADHD is accompanied by greater initial exposure at a young age and slightly faster progression. Early SU prevention and screening is critical before escalation to intractable levels.
Background
The Multimodal Treatment Study (MTA) began as a 14‐month randomized clinical trial of behavioral and pharmacological treatments of 579 children (7–10 years of age) diagnosed with ...attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)‐combined type. It transitioned into an observational long‐term follow‐up of 515 cases consented for continuation and 289 classmates (258 without ADHD) added as a local normative comparison group (LNCG), with assessments 2–16 years after baseline.
Methods
Primary (symptom severity) and secondary (adult height) outcomes in adulthood were specified. Treatment was monitored to age 18, and naturalistic subgroups were formed based on three patterns of long‐term use of stimulant medication (Consistent, Inconsistent, and Negligible). For the follow‐up, hypothesis‐generating analyses were performed on outcomes in early adulthood (at 25 years of age). Planned comparisons were used to estimate ADHD‐LNCG differences reflecting persistence of symptoms and naturalistic subgroup differences reflecting benefit (symptom reduction) and cost (height suppression) associated with extended use of medication.
Results
For ratings of symptom severity, the ADHD‐LNCG comparison was statistically significant for the parent/self‐report average (0.51 ± 0.04, p < .0001, d = 1.11), documenting symptom persistence, and for the parent/self‐report difference (0.21 ± 0.04, p < .0001, d = .60), documenting source discrepancy, but the comparisons of naturalistic subgroups reflecting medication effects were not significant. For adult height, the ADHD group was 1.29 ± 0.55 cm shorter than the LNCG (p < .01, d = .21), and the comparisons of the naturalistic subgroups were significant: the treated group with the Consistent or Inconsistent pattern was 2.55 ± 0.73 cm shorter than the subgroup with the Negligible pattern (p < .0005, d = .42), and within the treated group, the subgroup with the Consistent pattern was 2.36 ± 1.13 cm shorter than the subgroup with the Inconsistent pattern (p < .04, d = .38).
Conclusions
In the MTA follow‐up into adulthood, the ADHD group showed symptom persistence compared to local norms from the LNCG. Within naturalistic subgroups of ADHD cases, extended use of medication was associated with suppression of adult height but not with reduction of symptom severity.
Read the Commentary on this article at doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12758
There is relatively little research on the childhood antecedent predictors of early-onset alcohol use. This study examined an array of psychosocial variables assessed at age 10 and reflecting Problem ...Behavior Theory as potential antecedent risk factors for the initiation of alcohol use at age 14 or younger.
A sample of 452 children (238 girls) ages 8 or 10 and their families was drawn from Allegheny County, PA, using targeted-age directory sampling and random-digit dialing procedures. Children and parents were interviewed using computer-assisted interviews. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the age-10 univariate and multivariate predictors of the initiation of alcohol use by age 14 or younger.
Twenty-five percent of the sample reported having more than a sip or a taste of alcohol in their life by age 14. Sex, race, and age cohort did not relate to early drinking status. Children with two parents were less likely to initiate drinking early. Early initiation of drinking related significantly to an array of antecedent risk factors (personality, social environment, and behavioral) assessed at age 10 that reflect psychosocial proneness for problem behavior. In the multivariate model, the variables most predictive of early-onset drinking were having a single parent, sipping or tasting alcohol by age 10, having parents who also started drinking at an early age, and parental drinking frequency.
Initiation of alcohol use by age 14 reflects childhood psychosocial proneness to engage in problem behavior as measured by Problem Behavior Theory and having a family environment conducive to alcohol use.
Objective
Longitudinal studies of children diagnosed with ADHD report widely ranging ADHD persistence rates in adulthood (5–75%). This study documents how information source (parent vs. self‐report), ...method (rating scale vs. interview), and symptom threshold (DSM vs. norm‐based) influence reported ADHD persistence rates in adulthood.
Method
Five hundred seventy‐nine children were diagnosed with DSM‐IV ADHD‐Combined Type at baseline (ages 7.0–9.9 years) 289 classmates served as a local normative comparison group (LNCG), 476 and 241 of whom respectively were evaluated in adulthood (Mean Age = 24.7). Parent and self‐reports of symptoms and impairment on rating scales and structured interviews were used to investigate ADHD persistence in adulthood.
Results
Persistence rates were higher when using parent rather than self‐reports, structured interviews rather than rating scales (for self‐report but not parent report), and a norm‐based (NB) threshold of 4 symptoms rather than DSM criteria. Receiver‐Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses revealed that sensitivity and specificity were optimized by combining parent and self‐reports on a rating scale and applying a NB threshold.
Conclusion
The interview format optimizes young adult self‐reporting when parent reports are not available. However, the combination of parent and self‐reports from rating scales, using an ‘or’ rule and a NB threshold optimized the balance between sensitivity and specificity. With this definition, 60% of the ADHD group demonstrated symptom persistence and 41% met both symptom and impairment criteria in adulthood.
Read the Commentary on this article at doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12758
Podcast link
Participants of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) eight years earlier do not differ significantly in repeated measures or newly ...analyzed variables that include school grades and psychiatric hospitalization. The treatment of childhood ADHD does not predict functioning six to eight years later.
PDF
